Article writing is an incredibly powerful lead generation tool for any consultancy or professional advice firm. An incisive, well-written article will help to get attention and position your company as a trusted resource in a competitive world.
62% of buyers of professional services claimed they would be “Very” or “Somewhat” likely to initially identify and learn more about a potential service provider through an industry website article or story
(From ‘How Clients Buy: The Benchmark Report On Professional Services Marketing And Selling From The Client Perspective’ – by Raintoday.com)
Article writing is not just a great marketing device: you can use it to close sales too. If you write an article in response to a specific client question or problem, you can influence the sales process in your favour and help them to come to a decision more quickly.
How I close sales with articles
I recently pitched for some business with a consultancy who had never worked with me before. They did not actively market themselves and realised that in the current climate they could not afford to be complacent. We discussed how to start this process and agreed that it would be useful to get some client feedback.
The MD was keen to go down this route, but with no pressing sales issue to motivate him and a pile of reports to write, it wasn’t at the top of his agenda. Rather than pestering him for a start date, I wrote an article on this blog about the benefits that client feedback would bring and sent him the link. This helped to build trust, gently reminded him of how our project would help him and prompted him to take action. Thanks to that article, the sale was quickly closed.
Sometimes your prospect need help to make a decision
Write a pertinent article especially for them showing how your approach solves their problem or benefits their business. Describe the process. Back it up with evidence. Tell them what others are doing and how this helps them.
You don’t need to get it published by an industry magazine, although this obviously helps on the credibility score. Post it on your website or company blog, or just send it to them as a well-designed word document.
If your article is well-crafted, relevant and answers their questions it will help you to motivate your prospect to take action and close the deal, often considerably shortening the sales cycle in the process.
This is ‘win-win marketing’
- Clients value content that shows how to solve the challenges they face.
- You prove yourself to be a useful ally who understands and can help them solve achieve their goals.
This is just one of the ways you can use articles for sales and marketing success.
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